“God’s Unseen Protection”
Text: 2 Kings 6:8-23
9-20-2026
In the name of Him who guards and protects us from all evil, dear friends in Christ. It would be a safe bet to say that none of you have ever heard a sermon on our Old Testament lesson. That’s because it never shows up in our lectionary system. That’s true of a bunch of other passages in Scripture. So, a while back I decided to preach a sermon every now and then on some of those stories. In the past we’ve looked at David fighting the giant Goliath and we also looked at the 3 Israelites who were thrown in the fiery furnace for refusing to compromise their faith. Those are probably stories that a majority of you are familiar with from your Sunday School days. But I’m pretty sure most of you have never heard of the incident in our text for today. That’s too bad because it contains more of God’s precious gems for our faith. Well, let’s rectify that by digging into this text together.
First, we’ll start with some background information so that you have a clear picture of what was going on. The year was around 850 B.C. A hundred years earlier, the people of Israel had a huge disagreement and ended up splitting into a northern and southern kingdom. The king in the north was named Joram. Elisha was God’s prophet who operated mainly in that northern kingdom. He had taken over for his mentor, Elijah, whom God took to heaven in a miraculous way. We’ll come back to that later. Anyway, to the north of Israel was the nation of Syria. They were in the habit of sending raiding parties across the border to terrorize the Israelites and steal what they could. It wasn’t all-out war, but if they managed to take over a town and hold it, so much the better.
It’s important to note that at this point in time Israel was a mess spiritually. King Joram’s parents were Ahab and Jezebel. They had introduced and encouraged the worship of false gods like Baal. When Joram took over for his Dad, he allowed this evil practice to continue. Now you’d think that Yahweh, the only true God, would have gotten angry and given up on the Israelites, but He didn’t. Instead, He sent prophets like Elisha to rebuke the king and the nation, urging them to return to the Lord. God permitted the Syrians to harass Israel in order to show how powerless they were without Him. He also interfered with the King of Syria’s plans in order to show that He was almighty and still in control. These were His chosen people who He promised to love and protect in spite of their sinfulness.
So, God gave Elisha the secret information of the planned Syrian troop movements, and he passed it on to King Joram. It’s kind of like in the Civil War when General Lee’s battle plan was accidently left under a tree. A Union soldier found it and those secrets helped the north to turn the tide on the war. Well, each time King Ben-Hadad of Syria planned an attack on Israel it was like the details had been given directly to his enemy. The information was so accurate that he was convinced there was a spy amongst his advisors. But one of those advisors reported that it was Elisha who was able to supernaturally obtain such top-secret information. Even if the king merely whispered it to his wife in the privacy of their bedroom, Elisha would know. The solution to the dilemma was to capture Elisha. And that’s what the Syrian king set out to do.
When it was learned that the prophet was staying in the town of Dothan, King Ben-Hadad sent his army there. Now, do you suppose Elisha knew they were coming for him? Why of course! God had revealed all the rest of the Syrian army’s plans, so why not this? Elisha trusted that God would protect him so he stayed put. He may not have known how, but he trusted God would teach everyone a powerful lesson by it. The Syrians must’ve been feeling pretty cocky. They had Elisha surrounded. All they had to do was threaten the residents of Dothan with annihilation if they didn’t turn the prophet over to them. It was a slam-dunk. When Elisha’s assistant looked out the next morning and saw the massive army he was paralyzed with fear.
Don’t you love how calmly Elisha answered him? “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” His servant had to be wondering what in the dickens Elisha was talking about. Fact of the matter is, Elisha could see something his assistant couldn’t which would explain his tranquility. So he prayed for the Lord to open the servant’s eyes. Suddenly he could see the unseen army of angels and their chariots of fire that were standing guard between them and the Syrians. Elisha was familiar with such a scene because he witnessed how God had sent a chariot of fire to take Elijah up into heaven. When God appeared to Israel, He regularly used fire to depict His mighty presence. No wonder then that His army of angels would become visible in such a fiery display. It showed their invincible, protective power. The Syrians thought they had the upper hand but little did they know that they were the ones who were surrounded and outnumbered by God’s army. Under the circumstances it’s amazing that God didn’t order those angels to destroy the Syrian army. But it gave Him an opportunity to teach a lesson to everyone. In the same way that God showed undeserved mercy to them, they should now be merciful and kind to their enemies.
It’s rather ironic how Elisha prays in this text for people’s eyes to be opened and blinded. Don’t misunderstand. In all these circumstances those people could still see with their eyes what was around them, but their minds couldn’t comprehend what they saw. Jesus explained that this was His method of teaching spiritual things. In Matthew 13 He said, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand... But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.” The truths of God can only be seen by the eyes of faith. He has to open our minds so that we can comprehend what He’s teaching us and see heavenly things. That’s why after Jesus died and was raised from the dead, Luke’s Gospel tells us that Jesus came to the disciples and “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” They saw Jesus with their eyes and even touched His resurrected body but their minds couldn’t grasp the glorious truth of what it meant. Jesus changed that by opening their eyes of faith.
That’s true for us too. Our eyes can see God’s Word and our ears can hear it preached, but it won’t make sense unless Jesus opens our eyes of faith to His unseen truths found in it. You don’t realize it, but I regularly pray that prayer of Elisha before I climb into the pulpit to preach a sermon to you. I pray, “O Lord, please open their eyes of faith so that they may see.” And that’s a great prayer for you to pray before you read God’s Word. Because when He does, then you will begin to see things in the Scriptures that you have never seen before. The Holy Spirit will give you the ability to see your sins and your need to repent. And the Spirit will open your eyes to see God’s loving mercy offered in His forgiveness through Jesus Christ. You’ll also be able to see how God wants you to live as His children. Instead of seeing the commandments as a bunch of strict dos and don’ts, you’ll see them as God’s loving design for a happy, holy life.
But that’s not all you’ll see. Like Elisha’s servant, your eyes of faith will also be opened to see God’s unseen protection. I doubt you’ll get up tomorrow morning and visibly see angels and chariots of fire surrounding you. However, you will see and comprehend them with the eyes of faith because they are indeed there. Every day I pray that God would hedge my family in with His guardian angels. I may not see their visible presence, but I know they are there and that gives me a calm confidence like Elisha even in seemingly hopeless situations. We’re not just talking about being preserved from physical dangers. God also surrounds us with His unseen protection from spiritual assaults from the devil. Martin Luther understood that and incorporated it into his morning and evening prayer. Please turn with me to page 327 in the front of your hymnals and pray with me that morning prayer... I encourage you to commit those two prayers to memory and use them daily. In them, you’re asking God for His unseen protection both day and night.
One last thing to glean from our text. Those angels and chariots of fire didn’t surround Dothan simply because Elisha was there. In Old Testament times when the king went out with his army his tent was encircled by his troops. They created a shield around him. You see, the King was in that city with Elisha. Not the earthly king of Israel but the King of Kings. God Himself was in, and working through, the prophet. So naturally His mighty army of angels would surround Him. And that’s the reason why God surrounds you and me with His unseen protection. He doesn’t merely love you from afar and dispatch a legion of heavenly warriors to guard you. In your Baptism, God the King has come to dwell within you. And with Him comes that protection of both your body and soul that hedges you in. May our merciful Lord open our eyes of faith to see the wondrous blessings and truths that He provides to us through His Word. And may He help us to see His unseen protection which surrounds us every day of our lives. To Him be the glory now and forever. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!